Our Founding Fathers
by 815
Summary: A tie that brought them together. When the tie breaks, the knot tightens. — Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**Summary:** A tie that brought them together. When the tie breaks, the knot tightens. — Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji

* * *

**Our Founding Fathers**

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_"Friendship doubles your joys, and divides your sorrows."_

* * *

A bomb was heard and smoke was the strongest smell that day. It would be the strongest smell for a long time.

Three ninjas sat deep in the forest. Sound ninjas sprawled dead on the forest floor. Blood stained the grass around each of them. The three of them each felt guilt of taking another life, but it was war.

It was war against the Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Sound. It was a war that had been predicted for some time now, and had begun at that moment. Everyone was fighting – even some of the boldest genin had the strength to pick up a weapon and hurl it at the enemy. There would be lots of deaths and lots of casualties.

All three of the ninjas were hurt. A blonde-haired girl was healing her left arm that was cut deeply by the blade of one of the "now dead" ninjas. She used her right to make the cut shallower, for she had to heal her two other companions.

A bulky one sat and leaned against a tree, drawing heavy breaths. Another man with his hair pulled into a spiky hairdo sat nearby against another tree. It was quiet except for the everyday noises of constant war. It was a chance for them to recuperate. But for a moment in time, there was a complete silence, but a question:

"Are we going to die?" The bulky man was still heaving heavy breaths, taking a rest. But it was something that had been plaguing their minds for awhile now. It was so powerful that it seemed to block out the other sounds of war.

The man looked at his companion. "Shikamaru, are we going to die?"

The man named Shikamaru was still. How would he tell him that there was a possibility—a chance that none of them would survive? He clenched his fists. "Chouji—" he began, but was cut off—by none other than Ino.

"—What kind of question is that?" The girl's shrill voice could be heard. "None of us are going to die, Chouji," she told him. "Everyone will make it out alive because…" Her voice trailed off. "Because we're Team 10!" she finally concluded. "If we die, who will make the other Team 10, hmmm?"

Silence from her two teammates, but either way, it was enough for her and for them too.

And she was right.

All three of them would live, but each of them would die once.

* * *

Yamanaka Inoichi died with a sword in his heart.

He died fighting exactly twenty-three Sound ninjas at once, side by side with his teammates. He had only a little bit chakra left. The leader of the attack had advanced on his two friends, who were depleted of energy. The man, whose energy was as strong as Akimichi Chouza's, took both of them by the neck and began to choke them. With his last amount of strength, he performed the mind switch technique and went into the body of the leader.

He set his two friends down and took up the sword on the man's hilt. He flashed an unfamiliar smile at them.

And for a moment, it meant a lot of things. _See you in the afterlife. Don't get killed. Don't die a stupid death. Take care of my family. _The two of them knew and the two of them nodded. Both of them managed a sad looking smile. But it was enough.

Inoichi took the sword and plunged it into his heart.

**·.**

Ino cried in her room and didn't come out. The beginning siege had ended, and both sides were renewing their strengths. Bodies had been disposed the quickest way: by burning them and letting the ashes ride on the winds.

Shikamaru and Chouji came over. They both went up to her. Chouji was the first to speak. "We've buried him." She looked up in surprise at those words. The dead were being cremated, and none were being buried. But _they_ buried him. She stood up.

"Where?" she asked. Both of them gestured to the door and she nodded. Ino followed them out and they lead her to the Nara household. They went straight to the forest that Shikamaru's family owned.

Deep in the heart of the forest was a grave marked against a tree to the left. Ino smiled as she went over and sat down in front of it. But she gaped when she saw a fresh pile of flowers. A Konoha headband was laid over it. She looked at her friends.

"You did this?" They both nodded.

She laughed as she picked up the flowers, fresh tears going down her face. It was messed up. She spotted weeds in the middle and the flower meanings were too blurred. But she cried because she knew that they had arranged it themselves – the two, who didn't know a thing about flower arrangement. She didn't bother to wipe her tears away.

Ino took the headband and placed it over her heart. She whispered a few words to it as she rubbed her thumb over the symbol. She then put it back on top of the freshly packed soil.

Shikamaru and Chouji smiled knowingly at her and they sat down with her. Shikamaru patted her back gently, resting his arm around her. Chouji sat down nearby and handed her a bag of chips. He let her have the last one. Both of them knew her tears were a silent thank you. They knew she was too proud to say it outright.

But someday she would.

The day was spent in the flower fields. Ino had sat down at the top and mused when she was younger and when she was just learning the ways to arrange flowers. The three of them lay down in the fields.

Team 10 watched the clouds and ate chips until they drifted off to sleep. Ino wasn't conscious about her weight for once. She didn't call either of them lazy bum or fat-ass. And her tears were gone the next day.

The world began again for Yamanaka Ino.

* * *

Akimichi Chouza died with his right hand over his heart, a left hand clutching a glass case.

He died in the north side of Konoha. There were too many Sound ninjas to take on at once. They both agreed to use as little ninjutsu as possible and take on most of the enemies with just taijutsu. However, he could tell that his lazy friend was never one for just taijutsu. Even he was tiring out. He turned to his partner and nodded. They knew that one of them was going to die. One of them wasn't going to make it. The loser will get left behind.

The Akimichi was not a loser, but he knew that Shikato was still needed. That he would do something great before his death.

And he would not be there to witness it.

Chouza opened a case full of three pills. And he opened his mouth and ate all three at once. The power surged in him was so great that he took out the entire group and the next and the next… Until it was done. He collapsed against a tree and he saw a butterfly fly by.

He blessed Nara Shikato, and knew he would see a familiar face in heaven.

**·.**

Chouji did not eat. He did not drink. He just sat in his room and cried. Every once in awhile, he would brush away the fresh ones. But they still flowed freely.

Shikamaru came in first. He had found out from his father. He went straight to Chouji and noticed his thinned state. He frowned and sat down next to him, patting his back. Shikamaru knew it was stupid to ask if he was alright or not. Not only was it a sad effort for him, he knew it wouldn't do any good. All he said was, "Ino's coming soon."

The boy nodded.

Ino burst in, her breaths heavy. Shikamaru and Chouji's eyes widened. In her arms were bags and bags of potato chips. She held them to her chest and nodded to Shikamaru. The genius nodded back. He turned to his childhood friend.

"We buried him," he said. Chouji smiled as he sensed the déjà vu at those words.

"Where?"

Ino grinned lightly seeing his face get a little brighter and a crack of a smile pierce through his lips. She answered, "You know where."

The three walked to Shikamaru's house. They passed by the makeshift wooden gate and entered the forest again. They went to the heart of the woods and stopped. To the left was the grave of Yamanaka Inoichi. To the right was the grave of Akimichi Chouza.

On the grave was a fresh bouquet of flowers. Chouji knew who made it. But he laughed at the small grasses that poked out through the ring of fresh daisies and pansies. "Why is there grass?" he asked.

Ino laughed with him and whacked Shikamaru on the head. "Ask him," she replied. "He said they smelled nice."

Chouji smiled and said, "They do, sometimes."

Ino handed him his father's headband. He took it and held it up to the sun. He didn't whisper words out loud to it—he did it in his mind. Chouji laid the headband with care on the grave.

They spent the day on top of a roof. A place where two boys knew so well. Ino gave them a puzzled look, but shrugged it off. It was a memory—and they deserved to have it kept to themselves. But Chouji thought otherwise.

"This is where Shikamaru and I first became friends," he told her. The blonde's eyes widened in surprise of this acknowledgment, but smiled unintentionally. She chuckled again as she shook her head in thought.

"I can imagine," she said. And she could. She could see how a small pineapple head found his way to a lonely boy. She looked at Shikamaru and he let a lazy smile go through.

"Yeah."

They sat down under the shade and leaned back. All three of them watched the clouds while eating chips. Chouji saw a flash of blue in the sky and knew it was a butterfly. "I wanna fly someday," he said to no one in particular. Ino still smiled and nodded, not saying anything.

But Shikamaru shrugged. "You can."

The world was alive again for Akimichi Chouji.

* * *

Nara Shikato died with his face looking at the sky.

Shikato died in the east gate of Konoha. He died at the dawn of the day when the Sound ninjas were preparing another trample through Konoha. They were excited to take over the village and bring torment to the citizens.

None of them made it through the east gate.

The man saw all of the Sound ninjas when the gate opened. Some people said that he was too lazy to actually plan out an attack. Some people thought that he was just too tired to do anything. Some people thought that he did it on purpose since he knew he would see his friends in heaven.

But the Nara had planned it out the moment he was given that mission. And he did it for his family and for Konoha. And he did it so that the Team 10 would rise again.

This is how he died:

Shikato stood at the gates, doing nothing. His chakra was at full height. The Sound ninjas all laughed and gave him a weird look. It was as if he was welcoming them to the village. But he placed his hands into a seal. The morning light cast shadows from the army. He extended his shadow to all of them.

He reached into his pocket and took up a kunai. He watched the men do the same thing. And simultaneously, they each slit their own throats. Many lives were gone that day.

His last thoughts on earth were: "I think I see people in the clouds."

**·.**

When Shikamaru found out, he was drinking tea. He was sitting in front of an old shogi board. And his tears were silent and thin. There were no choked sobs, no sniffles. Just the soft plip of tears as they fell on the wood of the board. He knew that two people were looking at him from the doorway.

"He said that we would play," he told them. A pause. "And I was ready to beat him too."

Chouji and Ino came in at the same time. Chouji was carrying the armload of chips this time and Ino carried a silver headband and a group of flowers. Shikamaru looked at them and smiled sadly at their gestures.

"You buried him?"

"Yeah." A pause. "You know where?"

A smile. "I heard you when you went through the gate."

They took a short walk again to the forest. Another stop at the heart of the land. To the left was the grave of Yamanaka Inoichi. To the right was the grave of Akimichi Chouza. And in the middle was the grave of Nara Shikato.

_Ino. Shika. Chou._

Shikamaru went over and knelt in the long grass. Ino and Chouji sat down beside him. She gave the flowers to Chouji and he put them down softly after setting down the bags of chips. Ino turned to Shikamaru and handed him the headband. He gave her a weird look, but shook his head.

"No thanks." But Ino persisted as she nudged it toward him.

"Don't be lazy," she reprimanded. A small pause. Then softly, "Talk to him… Tell him something."

Shikamaru looked at Chouji, and his friend nodded. "It works," he said. The lazy genius just nodded and took the headband from Ino's hands. He looked unknowingly at it.

"What do I say?"

Ino laughed as she shrugged. "That's up to you."

He nodded again and assiduously bought it up to his lips. Ino and Chouji got up and backed away, giving him his own personal space. They watched him whisper a few words to it and watched him close his eyes as if in a final say.

Shikamaru put the headband on top of the flowers and walked over to them.

"It works."

The two of them trailed behind him as they recognized the grassy hillside. Shikamaru sat down and so did they. Chouji passed them each a bag of chips and Ino talked, filling up the empty space in the air and in their hearts.

The world rotated again for Nara Shikamaru.

* * *

A year passes and Team 10 lays side by side again in the grassy hillside. The war is still going on, but moments of peace and serenity were ones that were always cherished even in the heat of battle. It's calm before the storm. A storm that will shake the earth and open the heavens. A few will enter heaven itself and a few will stare at it and know that they too would enter its gates when it was time.

And yet three people sit side by side in a grassy hillside, oblivious to the world around them.

Chouji opens his bag and begins to eat. "Are we going to die?"

The question shakes their minds again, but each of them understands the meaning.

Shikamaru and Ino look at each other. Both of them aren't faltered by his words. "Of course we will," the genius sighs. He shifts his body as he made himself comfortable on the spiky grass. "Of course we will…" His voice trails off as he gives off a yawn.

"But we're still alive," Ino says happily. She picks up a blade of grass and ties it into a bow and then a knot. "We're still here."

Chouji nods his head in agreement.

"Yeah."

The three of them watched the clouds, and then the stars until they all drifted off to sleep.

Each of them died once and each of them lived again.

Side by side they continue to live.

The world still spins.

Life goes on.

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_" Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together."_

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**A/N.** … I'm not sure where I got this idea. Ah well. I'm a big fan of happy endings. I hope this story seemed like it had one.

The first quote is anonymous.  
The last quote was said by Woodrow Wilson.


End file.
